MAGES' Tear Popping Adventures!
by Slider no. 11
Summary: Hopping through space-time, enduring world-shattering wars, and clashing against unimaginably powerful deities? Yep, definitely just some of the necessary steps a certain mad magician would wholeheartedly do just to obtain her favorite fizzy beverage.
1. A Tear Popping Prologue!

**THE TEAR POPPING, DIMENSIONS SPANNING, AND ABSURDLY RANDOM ADVENTURES OF MAGES.!**

* * *

 **A/N: Salutations, dear readers! So, I was just minding my business and drafting the next three chapters of** **The Fallen Four** **when suddenly, an idea popped into my head. "Hm… I subconsciously think of AUs from time to time, and I kinda feel bad whenever I don't use them, causing them to get lost in my sea of memories. Why don't I make a for-fun fanfic about exploring these AUs with the canon dimension jumper MAGES.?!"**

 **So here we are now, at the Author's Note for the prologue of** **MAGES.' Tear Popping Adventure!** **(that's just the shortened title; the real title is right up there)** **I already have a few admittedly weird AUs I plan on using here, but if you, yes you the reader, have an AU idea you'd like to see (kinda) realized, shoot me PM detailing it, and I might just use it. Because let's be real here, there's only so much creative and functioning AUs one can make up XD. Anyways, so sorry for the rather long A/N!**

 **Let's begin our multidimensional adventure!**

* * *

 **Re;Superdimension: The Tear Popping Prologue for a Tear Popping Adventure!**

* * *

A crowd surrounded the mad magician, a colorful array of emotions each gracing their all too familiar faces. Today was the day she finally said goodbye.

Today was the day MAGES. was finally leaving them.

Looking at everyone one by one, the mad magician smiled. They were all such nice friends, the short time she spent with them notwithstanding. "It was an amusing ride, all of you. Sadly however, I, the mad magician MAGES., must be going elsewhere in my search for the legendary Doc Tear Popper."

She struck the grassy surface of the hill they were on with the end of her trusty mage staff, causing reality to bend, twist, and contort behind her before bursting open with the appropriate visual effects one would expect to see. It's not like this narrator is just lazy to detail what the effects looked like, but it was quite the mental sight it was.

"Never forget us, MAGES.!"

"Please visit us again!"

"Good luck with your search!"

Goodbyes and good lucks bombarded MAGES. as she slowly floated backwards toward the dimensional rift she created. As the rift's edges sluggishly began to close in on her, the mad magician managed to smirk and say one last line to them one last time.

"I wish we cross paths again, my friends of this dimension."

With a loud yet muffled explosion-like sound, the rift closed, leaving MAGES. floating inside a psychedelic and unfathomable place. A place detached from space and time that only those with specific abilities could access, much less stay within it in prolonged periods of perceived time. It was the zone outside dimensions.

"…" The mad magician's body squirmed in its place, any movement she tried to execute becoming a monumental task for her to do.

"One can never really get used to moving in a glorified vat of honey…" MAGES. thought as she slowly but surely tried lifting her staff up her head. Being in an area that was beyond the grasp of conventional laws, a lot of things behaved differently here. One of these drastic breaks include the extremely thick, liquid-like state of the area. There aren't any actual liquids (or any _known_ liquid, if one were to ask her) inside, but that's not something the mad magician finds the need to know at all. Besides, it keeps on taking her a minute or two of her perceived time to lift her staff up anyway. If it were any longer than that, she would've probably thought of a way to alter this zone's state.

"Dimension Tripper."

An encore of similar visual effects mixed with the trippy coloration of the zone as the area around her began to twist and rip itself apart, the mad magician making herself another dimensional rift. Making haste in the slowest way possible, MAGES.' aloof expression hid the fact that her determination to succeed in her lifetime quest was at maximum throttle.

"I will find you this time… Wherever you may be, whatever I may have to do, I _will_ get to drink you once more…"

* * *

L/A/N: Underlined sentences are thoughts and/or imagination spots, by the way. Also, I've come to love the phrase _Tear Popping,_ despite it sounding so silly. :D


	2. Eternight's Lunne

**Umbradimension: Eternight's Lunne**

* * *

Finally coming to her senses from the resulting interdimensional travel, it only took MAGES. a quick survey of her surroundings to instantly asses these three things:

One, it was nighttime and absolutely dark.

Two, the ground was soft and wet from the absolutely pouring rain.

Three, and certainly above all, was the absolutely horrendous and depressing atmosphere, which was made more apparent by the combination of the above two and the seemingly eternal maze of dead trees she was in.

"A nice starting point for my _search_." The mad magician said in the flattest and sarcastic tone she could muster. Judging by the utter lack of any remotely modern-looking structures around her –since Dimension Tripper always drops her off in the same place she last casted it– she presumed she must be in an underdeveloped world that lacked the necessary resources needed to make something like a carbonated drink. This knowledge, coupled with the amount of time she had to wait before she could cast Dimension Tripper again –which was a month or so tops– deeply aggravated the mad magician. Does she really have to stay in this backwater dimension for a whole month?

Moving on from her grief, MAGES. began to maneuver throughout the muddy terrain in the hopes of finding a path she could follow along with and ideally, lead her to whatever civilization laid in wait for her. It took a while, but she was able to spot a long and stony path that cut through the sea of decaying wood, kind of like the sort you usually find in the classic horror-suspense films when a character is walking all alone with the pretense that they aren't actually alone.

 _–achoo!–_

"Pitiful immune system…"

She really needed a place she could dry off and hopefully get a change of clothes from. If there were two things the mad magician learned from the years she had been dimension hopping, it's that contracting a sickness in a foreign world is a big no-no, and that dressing up in the clothes of a common denizen would help her a bunch in keeping herself from looking too suspicious and getting authorities on her tail. Making haste, she starts following along the rocky road.

Half an hour or so in her trek, the mad magician started to hear distinct clopping from behind her. Stopping and turning her head around, she noticed a carriage coming towards her from the direction she came from. MAGES. immediately saw this as her chance of getting to whatever the vehicle was going –which was hopefully a nearby city or town– and raised her staff high to try and get the attention of the carriage driver.

Before she knew it, the carriage was in front of her.

"Are you lost or something, Miss? You'll get sick from standing in the rain." The elderly, but still generic-looking carriage driver asked.

Sob story time.

"Actually, I was attacked by bandits. They ambushed and took over the carriage I was on and after killing its driver, took off with most of my belongings still in it. If you could just show some kindness and let me ride along until your first stop, I'd be eternally grateful."

Wow, it has been several dimensions since she had to use her admittedly rusty acting skills. She could've sworn that the poor carriage driver that witnessed it tried his darn best not to cringe at that horrible display of exaggerated posing and miserable tone of voice.

"I-I see… Well, you're in luck, Miss. My one passenger is on her way to the capital of Eternight, Lunne. You might be able to get some help there." Getting down from his spot, the elderly driver opened the carriage door for MAGES. and gestured for her to enter it. As a sign of thanks, the mad magician placed her hand on her chest and silently bowed at the man before taking a seat inside with whoever the driver's sole passenger was.

"Zzz… Zzz… Zzz…"

Oh, she's asleep. Taking in her frilly and extravagant black-red dress and absolutely prim-looking sleeping posture, it only took MAGES. a moment to deduce that she was of some higher class.

"I wonder what her reaction will be when she wakes up knowing she now has an extremely drenched co-passenger…" She mumbled to herself, when the carriage abruptly started moving.

"Erm… Ugh…"

"Of course."

Watching the nobility slowly and rather adorably open her eyes, the mad magician waited until she finished her fancy yawn before she introduced herself.

"Greetings, I'm MAGES.. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." She said in the most proper and courteous manner she could muster.

"Huh…? Hey… HEY, DRIVER! Who is this soaking bitch, and why the fuck is she here?!"

Wait a minute... That sudden change from a low-key whisper to a grating scream littered with curses, not to mention her short, light brunette hair and light blue eyes…

"L-Language, Madame Blanc. She had just been recently atta-"

"Fuck if I care! Look at the damned puddles of water she's making inside the carriage!"

So this was this dimension's Blanc. Aside from the different fashion sense, it looks like not much has changed about her.

"I'm dreadfully sorry, _Madame_ Blanc."

"Tch. Use that tone again and I'll fucking bite your neck off." Blanc cursed one last time before sinking back into her seat while glaring daggers at the mad magician.

MAGES. swore, the fact that this Blanc was wearing a fancy dress was probably the reason she felt a bit more annoyed at this one's attitude than the other Blanc's she met. Being the calm and cool person she is however, she managed to survive the trip to Lunne without giving in to Blanc's death stare.

"We are here, Miss, Madame Blanc." The elderly driver announced to his two passengers.

"Finally. Even the damned sky closed up after forever." Blanc was the first to get out and made no wait in paying the driver and scurrying off to whatever event she was probably going to, leaving MAGES. to herself and the driver.

"I apologize if she called you a multitude of things during the trip. Madame Blanc has always been an infamous personality known all over Eternight."

"No, it's fine. I have friends that are alter- I mean, almost exactly like her. I can take it."

The driver sighed a sigh of pity when he heard this. Staring at the payment he just received from Blanc, he suddenly decided to start fishing the pockets of his dirty white pants, and after a few moments gave the mad magician its contents: about 2 pieces of gold, 8 pieces of silver, and 15 pieces of bronze.

"What is this, a fantasy novel?" Still, she was grateful –if not a bit guilty– that the driver even considered giving her some of his earnings. Looks like her acting was still pretty effective.

"That should be enough to last you a few days here in Lunne. Word of advice, there should be a guild opposite of the path Madame Blanc took. Going by your appearance, I presume you're a practitioner of magic?"

"This is too much like a fantasy novel, alright." MAGES. nodded.

"I was right." The driver let out a jolly laugh before riding his carriage again. "You can make a living out of the quests there. I heard mages are exceptionally well-suited for the guild here in Lunne. Good luck, Miss! Hyah!" Riding off into the night, the mad magician was finally left all alone in the scarcely filled streets of Lunne.

"Lunne and Eternight… What interesting names. My stay here may not be as boring as I first thought it would be..."

* * *

L/A/N: The amount of revisions this short introductory chapter went through was astounding. Truly a nightmare it was to write. D:


	3. MF0R13 X M2016A

MAGES. stood, and for the first time in a long while, was perplexed beyond belief. If memory served her right, she out in the streets of the Gothic-like Lunne looking for a guild just a while ago.

Now she was in what seemed to be by the end of the all too familiar Leanbox Basilicom entrance hall, albeit with some minor differences...a whole troop's worth of minor differences, to be entirely precise.

"Identify yourself!"

Although in no way different from his many peers beside him, a lone soldier at the front bravely shouted out an order for the still-dumbfounded MAGES. The mad magician simply stared at the soldier, then to his peers, then all around her before clicking her tongue in annoyance and whispering something under her breath...causing the troop of soldiers to lift up their rifles and aim them straight for MAGES..

"Didn't you hear what he just said? Identify yourself! We can and _will_ shoot depending upon your answer!" Another soldier exclaimed to the unflinching MAGES., who was more preoccupied thinking about how in the world she would escape this situation than getting threatened by armed soldiers. Also, 'depending on your answer'? What kind of a choice were they giving her? Why are there even armed soldiers in the Basilicom right now? MAGES. knew how Leanbox was usually the militaristic nation, or area, or faction, or whatever in the different dimensions she had been to, but none of them had actual active soldiers barring certain and obvious exceptions...which begged the question:

"Is this Leanbox in a state of war...? Those expressions on their faces and the fact they're here seem to prove that..." MAGES. thought, eyeing the soldiers just a few meters away from her once again. Noticing that their fingers were now lightly caressing the triggers of their guns, the mad magician was forced to think a lot more carefully about what she was going to say...now considering that she knew nothing about who Leanbox might be against in whatever war it was in right now.

"Are you not going to talk?! We're gonna litter your body with holes if you don't speak up! 10! 9...!"

A soldier suddenly began counting furiously, and before long, the others as well. This isn't faring well for MAGES. Not at all.

"6...! 5...!"

The numbers were counting down–MAGES. had to think quick...the torrential rain outside was distracting her...

"2...! 1...!"

...Is she too...?

"I–"

Before MAGES. could even start speaking, behind the soldiers, the large wooden doors that were the entrance of the Leanbox Basilicom opened and closed at hurried pace, catching the attention of everyone at the hall.

Two women, drenched by the horrendous downpour outside and covered with cuts and bruises all over, had entered the scene! And not just any two women, oh no… They were fellow Makers IF and Cave! Though not...exactly two people she normally expected to see together, MAGES. sighed a silent sigh of relief. Now that the guards were distracted by their abrupt appearances and turned their backs on her, maybe she can–

"Y-You... What do you think you're doing, standing with the enemy?!" The soldier closest to the two Makers angrily exclaimed, raising his rifle and pointing it straight at two, cutting off MAGES.' train of thought.

"Interrupted two times..." Despite MAGES.' growing urge to just chuck an extra explosive fireball towards the soldiers and make a run for the windows, she resisted, the interesting conversation going on greatly piquing her curiosity. Besides, it looked like the soldiers lost all interest in her and were solely giving all their attentiveness towards Cave. The mad magician grinned at the sight of all these sudden points of interests.

After a brief moment of silence, Cave spoke, her tone giving the idea that this just seemed like any ordinary day to her.

"Stay your hands... We are not your enemies." She held a cold, emotionless expression until she managed to catch a glimpse of MAGES. at the back, causing her to sharply turn her head away from the mad magician.

"Hmm…interesting. Did my counterpart here have bad relations with this Cave?

The soldier scoffed and partly glanced at where Cave has directed her gaze. "Like hell, you aren't. You know how many of us DIED to YOU, the star-soldier of LEANBOX?" He steadies his rifle and grunts. "And now you're chummy with the enemy as well? That intruder behind us is the least of your worries, monster, 'cause once Vert hears what you've done...I don't think even she would shed a tear after we show her you and Miss IF's bullet-riddled bodies." The guards grin–despite their shaking–amongst themselves, roused by the admittedly 'cool' speech one of them made.

"Kill me then. Kill both of us."

"H-Huh?" This wasn't the response they expected...

"I said 'Kill both of us'! Me _and_ IF! Do that...and we'll see if you all even get to see the sun rise tomorrow."

Such ominously cryptic words...even MAGES. felt a tinge of terror from the way Cave said that. The soldiers themselves exchanged uncertain and anxious glances with each other, visibly disturbed by the connotation those words carried. The second brave soldier however, although shaken, only shot a disdainful glare at Cave.

"Wha... What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Are you saying that–"

Without warning, forceful slamming wracks the doors behind IF and Cave! The so-far silent wearer of the leafy bow was so shocked by this sudden event–being the one closest to the doors, after all–she impulsively blurted out something that sent shivers down the soldiers spines and further tickled MAGES.' curiosity:

"C-Crap...! The Lowee Army!"

More powerful and violent strikes were progressively hitting the doors–each hit visibly affecting the soldiers.

"Such rowdy guests. You all wouldn't mind attending to them, right? I mean...the fate of the Basilicom and the nation depends on your choice, after all." Cave said, donning a rather devious smile all the while. Such a rare expression to grace her stoic face...which is sad, considering that some of the soldiers here might never see it again, 'cause the doors began to look like they were going to burst forth and release a presumably whole army of Lowee soldiers!

"A whole army, huh... And from Lowee as well..."

MAGES. felt a hand grab hers, knocking her out of her train of thought.

"You..." It was Cave, with a bewildered IF behind her. She squeezed tighter, as if to affirm something, before letting go and lightly shaking her head.

"I'm sorry...I was just...never mind. Excuse us. Come, Miss IF, w-we have to get to Lyrica!" The two ran past MAGES. in a blinding pace, taking no less than a minute for them to disappear deep into the castle that is the Leanbox Basilicom. MAGES. stood still, taking in what Cave last said.

"Lyrica...?"

In all the time she had been dimension jumping, MAGES. found it odd how she seemed to never cross paths–whether it be intentional or not–with any of Lyrica's counterparts in the dimensions she visits, save for one sole exception. It has been one of MAGES.' biggest curiosities, among others, and hearing that this dimension's Lyrica is just somewhere here in the labyrinthine Leanbox Basilicom...MAGES. absolutely had to try out and see if the universe is still keen on keeping her and her older sister apart.

The two opposing forces were already locked in deadly battle when MAGES. turned around to get one last glimpse of the battle. As she expected, the Leanbox soldiers were brutally losing to the far larger Lowee Army. Bullets and arrows from the Lowee side whizzed through the air in massive waves, slaughtering the Leanbox soldiers by the droves. The mad magician looked on, a scathing feeling building up inside her, preventing her from moving away from her spot. By the time a pungent, metallic smell has started filling the air, MAGES. has materialized her staff and was chanting with a disgusted and furious expression on her face. She just couldn't help herself.

This may be a different dimension, but to her, Leanbox is still Leanbox…the nation she called her home.

The room darkened as if all the lights went out, confusing and alerting soldiers enough that they stopped fighting. They all stood together and turned their heads looking at MAGES., who was shut-eyed and whispering indistinct words, a faint and ominous purple light now emanating from her body. The soldiers couldn't help but be lost at the peculiarly beautiful sight...until loud shouting came from the Lowee side.

"J-Jackasses! What the hell are you all doing staring and standing around for?! S-Shoot her, she must be with Leanbox!" A Lowee general in the front lines ordered some of his soldiers adjacent to him. A dozen or so followed him almost immediately–not noticing the fact that even the surviving Leanbox soldiers were standing around looking about more confused as them–and shot a round each at MAGES. with their Lowee-manufactured rifles. Rings of purple energy formed around the mad magician as she continued chanting however, enveloping her in a protective sphere of protection just in time to deflect the Lowee soldiers' bullets.

"Taste the fruit of my efforts! This…is the ultimate combination of science and magic!" Not giving the Lowee soldiers time to even react to her no-sell, MAGES. struck the cold stone floor with the end of her staff, causing four cogs with human-sized spheres of pulsating purple energy inside them to blink into existence, surrounding the majority of front-line soldiers of both Lowee and Leanbox in a square formation. Numerous Leanbox soldiers gasp at the sight and stared at MAGES. with knowingly horrified expressions, a bad memory surfacing within the recesses of their minds as markings of light began to decorate the ground below them, forming a circular area within the boundaries of the four spheres.

"Men, we have to get out of this circle! NOW!"

"What do you–"

"Shut up and just GET OUT!"

The Leanbox soldiers scrambled and pushed at each other in an unorganized haste as the bewildered Lowee Army looked on, failing to notice that the four spheres surrounding the majority of its soldiers were already spinning around them. Just as the last Leanbox soldier got himself out of the area, a brief maelstrom of energy formed within it that promptly erupted into shinning pillar, temporarily blinding everyone who wasn't shielding their eyes. By the time people were starting to see again, over half of the Lowee Army were now laying on the ground, severely burned and unconscious all around the entrance hall. A harrowing silence hung over the two sides as they stood looking at the downed soldiers, then to MAGES., who has gone back to having a neutral expression.

"...That...did she just...defeat half of the Lowee Army? J-Just like that...?" A Leanbox soldier asked another, gripping his rifle with shaky hands.

"Yeah, she just did...tch. She...she's definitely the one they called MAGES.."

"Wait...as in the MAGES. that was found d-dead by the border a year ago?!"

MAGES. wasn't surprised...hearing her name and 'dead' in the same sentence, that is. So much so that she impulsively responded to the statement as if it was second nature to her.

"Hmph...death is but a stepping stone for someone like me, The Mage...the one who has broken the boundaries between science and magic." MAGES. gloated, trying her best to intimidate practically everyone in the hall and downplay the fact that her last attack just about drained her. Her breathing was becoming heavy, not to mention her posture was getting looser and looser by the second.

"So...what now, Army of Lowee? Do you wish to continue fighting against The Mage and her footmen?"

While not exactly okay with MAGES. straight-up calling them 'her' footmen, the Leanbox soldiers appreciated her scare tactic, seeing as the remnants of the Lowee Army were starting to inch their way back out of the open doors of the entrance hall. The Leanbox soldiers decided to have some fun with the psychological advantage they have, stepping forward one step for every step back the Lowee Army took, then two steps...then three. It took a full minute of this before the Lowee Army fully retreated in spectacular fashion into the drenched outside. Once their white uniforms disappeared in the rain, probably never to be seen again, the Leanbox soldiers erupted into a boisterous celebration so loud that it caused MAGES.' head to ache.

"My job here is done...huh?" Just as she was about to silently trudge out of the hall and into the Basilicom to look for Lyrica, a few Leanbox soldiers had come up to MAGES., apologetic expressions gracing their hardened faces. Without any delay, the three soldiers bowed their heads, screaming "Please forgive us!" in unison.

"...What, for threatening to kill me earlier?" MAGES. sighed. "...Just think of this as my way of saying 'now that I helped you, don't get in my way for the time being', understood?"

The soldiers nodded their heads in silence...except for the one soldier to the right, opting to speak to MAGES. instead.

"Get in the way of what, Miss MAGES.? Maybe we could help you."

Now that the soldier mentioned it...MAGES. had absolutely no idea where Lyrica could be in this gargantuan castle of a Basilicom. She never really did explore the full extent of her dimension's Leanbox Basilicom that's for sure, considering the fact that she was always on the move looking for Doc P-

"You! Have you heard of the name Doc P anywhere?!" MAGES. felt ashamed of herself...how could she forget all about her one, true goal?!

The startled soldiers looked at each other, bewildered by the mad magician's sudden outburst... The way they are looking at her...it looks like they know nothing about it...

"Argh...nevermind. Instead, do any of you know where Lyrica could be, perhaps? It would be of great help if I find her immediately."

The soldiers' faces beamed, having been asked something they knew all too well. Just as they were about to answer her however, a faint, solitary gunshot went off somewhere in the distance. MAGES. and the apologizing soldiers' ears perk up, having detected the sound. The soldiers restraining the unconscious Lowee soldiers remained blissfully unaware.

"Outside...? Probably...the backyard?"

"Wait a minute...isn't that where...?"

"L...Lady Vert! That's where she said she'll be coming from when she returns, right?! W-We're sorry, Miss MA– M...Miss MAGES.?"

* * *

In an act much unlike what she would usually do, MAGES. was running down the myriad of halls within the Leanbox Basilicom, feeling conflicted on whether or not she should be ecstatic or fearing for her life. A moment just after the near-silent gunshot she felt an intense, utterly disgusting, and powerful presence starting to move towards the Basilicom at respectable speeds. While she has experienced similar levels of power before, the sheer malevolence and evil it was emitting was unlike anything she has felt since she visited Hyperdimension-ON3025...and met _**her.**_

You all will meet her too...one day...

 _–ehem–_

...Anyways, blindly following the malevolent energy's signature, it only took MAGES. a few minutes to meet its source somewhere near a pair of ornately designed doors. She was...surprised to know who it was, but seemingly not as much as the source–a transformed Vert–was.

"...You?! Wh-What are you doing here?!"

"Goddess of Green...I should be asking the one asking that question." And probably one more concerning the gritty soldier beside her as well, she thought. This has to be the first man with a malicious vibe that managed to get close to Vert...but then again, with her being the source of a far more malicious and malevolent aura...maybe MAGES. shouldn't be as surprised as she was and just deal with it. He's inconsequential.

"Well...answer mine first."

Looking far calmer than before, Vert spoke, eyeing MAGES closely. "...As far as I remember, I had...oh, well speak of the devil."

MAGES. turned around to see Cave, tired and looking quite...pissed, for lack of a better term, at Vert...with IF nor Lyrica anywhere in sight. Linking the things currently and has been presented to her, the mad magician couldn't help but assume the worst.

"Hello again, Cave. Still bitter, I see." Vert exchanges knowing glances with the grizzled soldier, before looking back at Cave. "...I'm happy you survived; I'd hate to lose someone like you due to some petty indiscretions, you know?"

The grizzled soldier chuckles to himself, looking quite amused. "Hey, aren't we missing a few heads here? Let's see... Oh right, that blue-haired skank walked right in front of my bullet! Terrib–"

In a span of second, three tiny, muffled explosions went off. It took another for everyone there to notice that the grizzled soldier has three gaping holes in his chest.

"...Oh whoops, looks like I _accidentally_ blew three new holes inside your friend, Goddess of Green. My apologies." Before long, the soldier's corpse falls over and dissipates, leaving Cave and Vert slack-jawed at the sight.

"Cave, can you confirm that Lyrica is, in fact...dead?" MAGES. turned toward Cave, her head now drooping after hearing MAGES.' request. Tears were starting to fall from Cave's eyes when she lifted her head up again to address MAGES.

"S-She's..."

Silence...

...

...

...

"...actually right here! Are you going blind or something, MAGES., 'ol buddy?!"

What.

Looking at Cave, MAGES. noticed that there was...something wrong. For some reason or another, Cave became the size of a toddler. Not only that, but...her proportions are...her head is bigger than her...and...there was Lyrica...like Cave, beside her...and IF too?

"Wh-What's going on here?! I demand an explanation! Goddess of Green, this must be your doing isn't...it..." MAGES. turned away from the uncanny looking trio of Chibi Lyrica, Cave, and IF, hoping to find some answers with Vert instead. However, in the place of the imposing, evil-looking Green Heart was instead...an old man...no...

Y-Yvoire?! From the Superdimensions?!

"Heck if I know lol. I'm just as confused as you are, Ganache."

"G-Ganache? I-I'm MAGES., the mage who–" Before she could even finish, Yvoire has pressed a hand mirror against MAGES.' face.

"I may be old, but I'm not senile. I know the face of Avenir's Ganache from some weird lass'. Look." While she might beg to differ on the senile part, MAGES. didn't really have much of a choice but check the mirror pressed against her face. To her relief, she wasn't that pathetic douche whose Killachines she easily disposed off, like Yvoire said.

That being said, she was someone...some _thing_...far far worse.

She was–

* * *

MAGES. woke up in cold sweat, wide-eyed and panting. She looked around, taking note that she was now in a drab, wooden room of respectable size. Around the edges of the room were wooden shelves filled with books of numerous types–near one by a window in the right was a standing mirror. She rushed out of bed, a peculiar desire to check herself on the mirror taking over her. Once in front of it, MAGES. sighed a sigh of relief.

"What am I so worried about...it was just a dream..."

In the mirror was herself, although gone was her iconic outfit–since she's let it out to dry–in its place was an infinitely boring combination of a white sleeveless tunic and tight brown trousers. MAGES. was sure of it–she was back in Lunne. To be specific, in her guild room. She totally forgot that she already found one willing to provide for her after...stuff happened.

That'll be a story for another day.

"Well, now that that's out of the way...I guess it wouldn't hurt to continue reading up on the world..." Grabbing no particular book from the shelves, MAGES. plopped back down on her bed to read.

It has been two weeks since she arrived at the Umbradimension.

* * *

"Is it rolling? It is, right?"

...

"Now? Alright, you heard the man, Nepgeo. In 3... 2... 1...! Go!"

"Hello there. This is a non-profit advertisement of the Neptunia fangame _Measure for Meaure: Cave Vs. IF_ by ghostd..."

...

"Hey, Nepgeo! What's the hold-up? Just say what's in your sc–"

"That's exactly it! The script's way too boring! I wanna explain it my– _our_ –own way!"

"Hey, hey, hey... You know he's right there, right?! He'll rip you to shred–eh? Huh? You're okay with that? Then why the heck do we hav...'we didn't ask'?"

...

"Okay, okay. I get ya. Well...I'm ready when you are, Nepgeo."

"Awesome! Let's go, Lindy!"

* * *

 **You've achieved Ending (?) MF0R13/M2016A: "The Path Not Taken"**

 **NOW GO AND PLAY THE ACTUAL GAME**

LINDA: "So, uh, yeah. Congratulations on getting to the end! Now usually, this is part where me and Nepgeo tell you what to do to get the next ending with cryptic hints and stuff..."

NEPGEO: "This isn't exactly the game though, so instead, we'll give you some info about it!"

LINDA: "Right. Anyway, the game's called Measure for Measure: Cave Vs. IF, made by a guy who calls himself "ghostdominion6" right in this very site you're reading this on. If any of you have half a working brain, you can easily see that the main characters of the game is that brunette chick from Planeptune and that redhead from Leanbox–not me, Nepgeo, or that blue-haired magical chick you've been reading about. The story revolves around the two getting all pissy with each other and eventually fighting, like the _Vs._ in the title promised.

NEPGEO: "Aw Lindy, at least try to explain why they're angry at each other! You're being way too vague..."

LINDA: "Why the heck should I when there's an Introduction when you literally start the game? Besides, I doubt we'll be able to explain the plot effectively anyway."

NEPGEO: "Oh. Point taken."

LINDA: "Sooooo, back to the game. It's a good 'ol text-based 'choose your own adventure' type of game where you play as the brunette and the redhead, leading them to their destinies or something like that with the choices you pick. Depending on what you choose throughout your playthrough, you'll get to a specific ending based on those choices."

NEPGEO: "There are 14 endings, but since some of the endings have different variations of themselves there is easily 20 or more you can actually get!"

LINDA: "Oh, and one thing about getting endings though: the redhead has a Karma system. Just a heads up."

NEPGEO: "Hm...I think that's about all we can say about it, right?"

LINDA: "Yeah, I think it is..."

?: It isn't over until I say so, ladies.

LINDA & NEPGEO: "Whoa! La–"

?: Shhh. No mentioning of my name. I'll be taking over for the last line. Just quiet down, okay?

LINDA & NEPGEO: _*nods*_

?: Thank you. Anyways, I'm here to say thank you to ghostdominion for letting me be a tester of the game. It was an awesome time, getting all the endings sans the secret ones I've yet to do before anyone else–besides the other testers, that is–had the chance to play it. If any of you are interested on playing  Measure for Measure: Cave Vs. IF and getting to experience a story different from the usual Neptunia fare, go to ghostdomion6's profile here on for the link to the game and start playing! Whoop, whoop! CAVE X CHIKA FOR LAIF!

* * *

?: ...Oh, and yeah, if you're reading this ghosty... I'm sorry if I butchered any characterizations and the end screen thingy–I'm not that good at imitating others. I tried though! So, I guess that's something... Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, man!


	4. Wrath of the Night

**Umbradimension: Wrath of the Night**

* * *

 _Two weeks ago_

Much like the old driver told her, there was indeed a guild some distance from the plaza where she and this world's Blanc (who will be called U-Blanc from here on out) was dropped off. Moving away east from U-Blanc's route and the tightly packed and antique Gothic buildings of Central Lunne, MAGES. found herself in front of a rather ominous-looking building…the only one in the open area it was in, to be precise. It was old and drab and decrepit–just barely looking like a supersized cookie-cutter haunted house. Big, wooden letters about the size of an average person spelled out the word "Arcana" above the building's rotting doors. Observing the guild building a bit more, the mad magician couldn't help but slightly wince at what seemed to be maggots moving from within the wooden portions of the doors.

At this point in time, most people would have hightailed out of here and back into areas that actually look like places you'd want to be in, like Central Lunne for example. But seeing as this was supposed to be a profitable magic guild–going by the old driver's word, that is–MAGES. was only intrigued by what was in front of her.

"Assuming that the driver wasn't pulling any tricks on me…maybe this is just some old building…the real one could possibly be a bit farther down…"

MAGES. began thinking and thinking, trying to figure out where the actual guild building she was supposed to find as she stared intently at the "fake" one in front of her. A minute or two later of her just standing still, a muffled sound came from within the old building, followed by the distinct 'click' and creaking of a door being opened.

In an instant, intuition took over MAGES.' body, making her materialize her staff and fire off a blast of magic straight into the now open doors of the guild in one swift movement. A brief silence followed, only lasting a second before a loud, undecipherable sound blared from within the guild…a sound so loud that it caused MAGES. to feel discomfort.

"…Tch. Cheeky." Equal parts annoyed and equal parts amused, MAGES. swung her staff and fired off a blast of magic again, this time with triple the power backing it. It whizzed through the air like last time, but as it was somewhere around the middle of its trajectory, another blast of magic shot out from within the building and crashed into it, causing an explosion of significant strength.

"Whoever you are, I applaud you for reflecting my attack back…and then some. Won't you be so kind to have a little chat outside with me? I must know how you did it."

No one answered her request, and only silence came out from the building. A whole minute later however, faint mumbling reached MAGES.' ears. At the same time, a whistling wind started blowing around her. The mumbling grew louder and louder over time, as with the wind getting stronger with it...

"Wait…oh."

MAGES. was already getting blown around like a rag doll by gale-force winds…tumbling through the air when she remembered what type of guild she was dealing with. When the winds subsided and dropped her inside the building, the disoriented MAGES. immediately noticed something wrong despite her condition. The floor was soft like a carpet, not cold and full of maggot-infested like dead wood. With her blurry vision, she noticed what seemed to be candles that lit the area with a warm, orange glow. Incoherent mumbling surrounded her as well, along with the aroma of hearty food and alcoholic beverages permeating the air.

"Well, well, well…what a pleasant surprise to see you here, of all places."

It was no use. MAGES.' head was still spinning and her body was still hurting from being manhandled by a virtual tornado to answer properly…or politely, as a matter of fact.

"Who the hell are you…?"

A loud crack echoed throughout the guild, silencing the background merriments.

"Was that a joke?!" Still reeling from the previous hit, MAGES. let out a groan of pain. In the flipside, the hit also reoriented her, allowing her to finally see who had to audacity to punch her straight in the face.

"I…F?"

Aside from having a blue, ornately designed cloak concealing whatever outfit she was wearing now, this IF looked practically the same.

Except angrier.

Way angrier.

"I'm…not who you think I am, IF. I'm a MAGES. from a different dimension. Whatever my counterpart here did to you that made you this infuriated…I apologize on her behalf." The mad magician wobbled standing up, the recent physical strain taking its toll on her rather frail body. She looked around, noting all the other cloaked individuals inside the building who were eyeing her intently. They wore a similarly colored cloak like IF's, but none of them had the anything close to the artistic designs hers had.

"'Dimension?' What kind of jargon are you babbling about?!" Umbradimension IF (who will be called U-IF from here on out) was gritting her teeth and a powerful, howling wind started to blow all around her. Diplomacy wasn't looking like a viable option for MAGES..

"Another world. A place like this but at the same time…not like this. Surely this dimension's me must have mentioned it one way or another."

U-IF's eyes subtly went large from realization, then narrowed in anger. "…I do recall 'you' talking enthusiastically about 'other worlds' one day. The very same day _'you'_ decided to disappear five years ago."

"…I see. That clears up a lot of things. Well then, you might as well give up any hope of her getting back here."

The petite brunette punched MAGES. again, this time on the gut, bringing the mad magician to her knees.

"…You are…– _cough–_ …you are a violent one, aren't you?"

U-IF grabbed MAGES. by her collar, pulling her in close.

"Who wouldn't be violent against some insensitive prick like yourself?! Don't you know what came out of your own mouth? You're definitely not her…"

"…Of course I'm not her. Like I told you, I am a from a different dimension. I am not the MAGES. you know."

"Then if you aren't, where the hell is _my_ MAGES. then?!"

The sound of a loud horn reverberated throughout the guild, just barely stopping U-IF from striking MAGES. again. She dropped her, a grave look on her face in a moment of silence.

"…Tch. Come, my little ones!"

The clattering of feet followed the cloaked brunette's booming voice. Before the mad magician noticed it, the guild members had surrounded her and U-IF in a circular fashion. Much like the brunette, they too looked unnerved and restless.

"My little ones…it seems that an Aspect of the Night has decided to show their ugly mug in Central Lunne. Take care on holding it off. Survive with the best of your ability until she arrives…I'll catch up once I'm done talking with this woman."

The guild members nodded, then in spectascular fashion, took off their cloaks to reveal colorful and varied outfits under them and swiftly went out of the guild building in an organized matter towards Central Lunne.

"So…guild master, huh?" MAGES. said, on her feet once again.

"Stay here. You better be ready to explain once we get back." And just like that, U-IF sprinted outside and left the mad magician alone…and annoyed.

"Rude _and_ violent…does she expect me to follow her whims with that kind of attitude?"

MAGES. deliberately passed several minutes of time checking out the guild before she backtracked her way towards Central Lunne. The moment she stepped out of the guild however, the mad magician felt this nagging feeling of distress. The horn…the way U-IF and her guild members reacted to it…not to mention this 'Aspect of the Night' thing she mentioned.

"No matter how you look at it, this is one big flag for an event…as the goddess of purple would usually put it."

Finally at the plaza, MAGES. arrived to witness the scene of people running away screaming, their contorted facial expressions making it seem as if they had seen death itself.

"Is this 'Aspect' possibly a powerful monster? I could see the horn being this place's alarm against beings like them…either way, I have to see it."

Thinking while amidst a sea of fleeing people, it didn't take long until someone bumped into MAGES.. It was a crying kid wearing a cute little dress…stained red by the blood coming out of the large gash by her collarbone. Without words or hesitation, the mad magician knelt down and placed her hand over the wound and used the one healing spell she knew. Due to her inexperience with that school of magic, her healing was usually slow…but after spending a couple of minutes or so of trying without the wound's bleeding at least stopping, MAGES. became suspicious. The girl herself even seemed to be confused that the magic of the considerate miss in front of her wasn't having any effect on her. She began to cry even harder than ever, but this time, her crying seemed to sound more like an angry tantrum than a sad spilling of tears.

"Why can't you heal me, you shitty mage?!"

For the third time this day, MAGES. found herself at the receiving end of a fist. Unlike the last two however, this one was from a kid. A _kid_ who wasn't even some supernatural entity, goddess, or whatever. And yet here she was, tumbling across the plaza with a big bruise on her left cheek as if a truck at full speed hit her. With nothing in the wide-open plaza to stop her, MAGES crashed into a building wall, probably breaking a few bones in the process.

The mad magician could only writhe and groan in pain. She was getting pretty tired of reacting to her own physical abuse.

"You should watch where you're going, bastard!"

"Motherfucker!"

As more chaos ensued from the little girl's unnatural display of strength, MAGES. caught the sight of two men starting to duke it out with each other in her peripheral vision. It went the way most brawls between guys usually played out…until, well, the other guy got his head crushed to a pulp with a single punch. That wasn't even the thing that MAGES. got concerned about–she was more concerned by the fact that the guy that threw the punch dived headfirst into the mushy pool of flesh and blood that was once a head and started to lick and slurp it all up.

"…How disgusting."

MAGES. felt her stomach turn at the sight, but she couldn't look away. She caught a glimpse of something…a certain thing on the two guys' bodies that looked oddly familiar to her.

A gash wound.

"Stand up, you shitty mage!"

The mad magician's head snapped to the direction of the young, vulgar voice. It was the girl that socked her on the face.

"Heal me now, fucker!"

"No." With a stern look on her face, MAGES. materialized her staff and shot the kid with a fast and quick magic blast, knocking her back several feet. She immediately tried to get up, but the mad magician was a step ahead of her, having casted as safer version of her devastating Corrupt Cocytus ice spell right just before the moment of impact. Icy tendrils caught the kid's little legs just as she got up, freezing her in place.

"This shit's cold! Really! Fucking! Cold!" The kid screamed as she slowly started to lose feeling on her legs.

"That's n _ice_ to hear. Maybe you'll _cool_ down a bit now, hm?"

…

"That was fucking horrible. Even by my shitty standards."

"Shut up, child. You can't even form a sentence without adding a swear word at least once. You don't even have any variety."

"It's because I'm angry at you, you shitty failure of a mage! Can't even heal a fucking flesh wound…"

MAGES. sighed. Was she really fighting with what looks to be a ten-year old child? She pondered on that thought as she started to heal herself.

"Oh, I don't know. It's maybe because your wound is special. Who…or what…gave you that gash?"

"A shitty lady with light blue hair did this to me. I could take you to her if you want. All you have to do is free me from this ice and–"

MAGES. propped herself up–while still healing herself–with her staff and started to walk where all the other people were running away from.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where the fuck do you think you're going?!"

"To see that light blue haired lady you mentioned. I want answers."

The kid looked at her with a doubtful expression. "Are you actually batshit insane? She'll fuck you up hard. Me and a couple of others were lucky enough to just get scraped by her claws!"

"Oh, so you care about me now?"

At this point, the kid just gave up, gave MAGES. the middle finger, and crossed her arms in frustration. She was done.

"Just go and die already."

The mad magician smirked, though her smile faltered knowing that she felt gratified beating a ten-year old. She was a supernaturally strong ten-year old, sure…but she was still a ten-year old.

"I'll be going now. Stay cool, kid."

"You don't have to tell me, fucker! Just go already…and take your shitty puns with you!"

The plaza was all but empty by the time MAGES. went straight for the area–which looked to be a shopping street–where the alleged Aspect of the Night was running amok and most likely fighting U-IF and her guild's members. Slowly making her way west from where she was, she noticed other…agitated people like the kid…brutally ravaging those unlucky enough to die by their hand. She passed through them as if she didn't even exist. Some looked her way, but only for a moment before they went back to messily eating the bloody fruits of their handiwork.

"You'd expect the cannibals to attack the human walking among them…" MAGES. became deeply curious. These people with gashes…these cannibalistic, agitated, and supernaturally strong people…

"They have to be connected to this Aspect of the Night person. I'd be surprised if they weren't."

As she went deeper and deeper into the shopping street, weak grunts and screams started to echo. MAGES. picked up her pace, going from a leisurely walk to a brisker walk, the internal wounds from her smacking into a wall preventing her from breaking into run. It took her a while, but she arrived at the end of the street, pretty much fully healed from the constant healing she was doing to herself on the way there, and ready to fight alongside the Arcana guild members if she need be…

"You…"

A guttural voice called out to MAGES. within an ongoing scene of blood and gore. Much like in the plaza, the guild members of Arcana with gash wounds were brutalizing and consuming the corpses of their fellow mages. At the back was the source of the voice, her clawed hands strangling U-IF despite being slightly smaller than her. She had rather spiky, light blue hair–which had two distinctly long strands flow from both sides of her head up to her chest–that seemed to glow alongside her fiery red eyes under the half-moon in the sky. She bore fangs as her face contorted from a sudden burst of rage, seemingly at the mere sight of the mad magician. The skirt of her torn black and red dress –primarily red now due to all the blood covering it–fluttered in the cold, outside wind as she continued to glare at MAGES. as if she was trying to recognize her. MAGES. stared back, a sickening and anxious feeling taking over her when she instantly realized who this Aspect of the Night really is.

"I remember you. You were that soaking wet bitch in the carriage…weren't you?!"

MAGES. stood her ground, outwardly unaffected by the Aspect of the Night's roaring voice. Deep inside however, she knew that the next few minutes or so will not be the most pleasant of experiences. Someone has to take care of this monstrosity, after all.

"Yes…yes, I am. So glad you could remember me, Madame." The mad magician spoke in a courtly manner and bowed, ticking her off even more.

"Are you mocking me, bitch?!"

"Not in the slightest, Madame. How could I ever mock my dancing partner?"

The Aspect dropped U-IF–who has long since passed out–into the ground and directly faced MAGES.

"What the fuck was that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just asking if you wanted to dance with me." She brandished her staff, spinning it around her until she went into a not-so-subtle battle stance. "So…shall we dance, Madame Blanc?"


End file.
